A California man accused of killing two people on separate days shocked police by confessing to the crimes twice after officers at a jail initially did not believe him, prosecutors said.
Marcelino Castro, 28, was arrested on Saturday after allegedly admitting that he had murdered a friend and, days later, a stranger in San Jose.
The first killing took place on September 13, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. The second victim was not known to Castro, prosecutors said.
A police detective’s statement of facts alleges that Castro strangled his friend before cutting his throat. The other victim was allegedly strangled and struck with a rock.
Police said both victims were lured by an offer to smoke methamphetamine with Castro.
Prosecutors said Castro first went to the Main County Jail in San Jose to turn himself in, but deputies did not believe his account. He then went to San Jose Police Headquarters, where he confessed again.
Castro also reportedly directed officers to the locations where the bodies were found along the Guadalupe River bed.
Prosecutors say there was no apparent motive
Deputy District Attorney Michael Gadeberg said the case appeared to involve an unexplained urge to kill.
“I’ve never seen a case like this, where there’s just no apparent motive,” he said. “Where someone just has this compulsion to kill, starts with a friend or someone they knew, and then moves on to a total stranger.”
The stretch of the Guadalupe River where the bodies were discovered is known to be frequented by people experiencing homelessness.
Shaunn Cartwright, of the Unhoused Response Group, said: “There is a lot of violence that happens to unhoused people.”
Cartwright also raised the possibility that a third recent death could be connected to Castro, citing its location and timing. The person was found near a train station on the same day Castro turned himself in, she said.
“They were found in the morning. It’s just that there was a third body that was found on the same day,” Cartwright said.
The two victims have not been identified. A woman present at Castro’s court hearing claimed to be the mother of one of them, but did not wish to comment.
Castro failed to attend his first scheduled arraignment on Wednesday. He appointed a lawyer that day and appeared at a rescheduled hearing on Thursday, but made no statement to the court.
He remains in jail without bail and is due to appear again on December 8. Prosecutors said they have not ruled out the possibility of further victims.
